'Verse - αΕβ - LL - United States of America - State - Arkansas

References to The Satanic Bible in police seminars in combination with the apparent evidence of a connection between The Satanic Bible and a crime, like Baker and Ramirez, contributed to a number of unfortunate miscarriages of justice, such as the conviction of a young man in the Robin Hood Hills murders. On May 5, 1993, near West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight-year-old boys were tied up, abused, murdered and mutilated in Satanic Ritual.

At that time, police departments across the country had become increasingly skeptical of any notion of a covert, international network of Satanic cults who routinely abducted, abused, and murdered children in Satanic Ritual. In the face of a lack of hard evidence, most law enforcement agencies had concluded that Satanic ritual abuse was basically a non-existent hoax. But, belief in "ritual abuse" nevertheless persisted among conservative Christian groups, even including some policemen.

One of the aspects of this case that makes it stand out is that a juvenile probation officer at the Robin Hood Hills crime scene hypothesized that the boys had been murdered in a Satanic ritual. He believed that the one person in the area who might be capable of the crime was a young man whose case he had followed for years, Damien Echols. From that point onwards, police focused on proving that Echols was the high priest of a Satanic cult. If this could be demonstrated to the satisfaction of a jury, it would be easy to convict Echols of the crimes, despite the lack of hard evidence.

In sharp contrast to other members of the local, highly conservative community, Echols was a fan of heavy metal music bands. People also associated his first name, Damien, with the Anti-Christ character in The Omen movies. During the trial, testimony was presented regarding items found in Echols' room, such as a funeral register on which upside-down crosses, spells, and a pentagram had been inscribed. They also found a book on witchcraft and, of special note, The Satanic Bible. These items solidified the connection between Echols and the murders in the jury's mind, and he was convicted.